Review: Greek restaurant serves Mediterranean classics at four Treasure Coast locations
When visiting Vero Beach, Port St. Lucie or St. Lucie West, chances are good you've seen the blue and white signs for Spiro's Taverna Greek restaurants, which are great spots to pick up or dine in. The same restaurant is called Olympic Taverna in Palm City and Spiros Kouzina in Melbourne.)
Here in Vero Beach, Spiro’s is in the Indian River Plaza on U.S. 1, and has indoor and outdoor dining. I have experienced Spiro’s as warm and friendly, whether it’s the destination for a ladies’ lunch or a place to meet for family dinner. Small party or large, the service has always been fast and the food has always been good and satisfying.
Our most recent visit was an evening meal, and the three of us were hungry. We started out with hummus ($8.95) served with fresh, soft, warm pita and a small assortment of veggies. Who can resist saganaki ($12.95), Greek kasseri cheese, flamed with brandy and served with warm pita? For us, this is a must-have.
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My son just couldn’t deviate from his favorite: the ‘famous’ gyro ($10.95) with French fries. Spiro’s has five different types of gyros: chicken, vegetarian, souvlaki (pork), falafel (vegetarian chickpeas) and the ‘famous’ gyro. The latter has a blend of beef and lamb cooked on a vertical rotisserie, sliced and then wrapped in a warm pita with tomatoes, red onions, lettuce and tzatziki (salted, strained yogurt blended to smooth and creamy with tiny bits of cucumber, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and herbs).
If you are new to Greek cuisine, I’ll save you some embarrassment. As a young woman on the Penn Campus in Philadelphia, I walked up to a food truck and asked for a “guy-row.” After everyone looked at me as if I had two heads, the kindly food truck operator quietly corrected me, telling me gyro is pronounced “YEE-roh.” All I knew was it was delicious.
My husband and I ordered from the traditional Greek cuisine portion of the menu. He had grilled kebab ($14.95), and I had moussaka ($17.95). These entrees came with a choice of soup or salad and a side.
The kebab was a succulent and beautifully seasoned skewered chicken, red onions and green pepper. With it, my husband enjoyed a crisp salad and another must-have: fresh-cut potatoes roasted generously in lemon, herbs and lots of butter.
Greek moussaka is a substantial entrée that looks like a square of Italian lasagna on the plate, but is actually lots and lots of ground beef, layered under eggplant and potatoes and topped with bechamel sauce and Parmesan cheese. Tomato sauce tops it off. Next time, I will remember to ask for additional tomato sauce. With my entrée, I chose avgolemono, a sublime lemon rice soup.
A slice of Yiayia’s yummy baklava ($5.95) and we were ready to call it a night. Opa!
Spiro's Taverna
Cuisine: Greek
Address: 1555 U.S. 1, Indian River Plaza, Vero Beach
Phone: 772-562-5477
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Sunday; 8 a.m. to noon Saturday-Sunday
Alcohol: Beer and wine
Maribeth Renne dines anonymously at the expense of TCPalm for #WhatToDoIn772. Contact her at maribeth.d.renne@gmail.com
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Restaurant review: Spiro's Taverna, Olympic Taverna has Mediterranean
